CHAPTER TEN

The next few weeks were the happiest of my life. Every so often I would think this to myself and it would cause an ominous cloud to befall me. Being with Bella was the best but we both knew it was only for a short time. I could even see when this realization would come over her as well.

Bella walked into the cafeteria kitchen where I was just finishing up, dressed impeccably for our date. I was taking her to the movies in a vain attempt to have a cliché normal American dating experience. I had visions of Bella and I sharing popcorn, watching a movie while our fingers slyly danced around the butter covered nosh. If the movie was scary, Bella would cling onto me and smash her head into my chest as I placed a comforting arm around her. It was all so very silly and yet I couldn't wait.

"Are you ever going to finish?" She asked appraising my piles.

"You know. It might be nice to have a little help over here. I would be done faster and we could be on our way if you were willing to help a…brother out."

She rolled her eyes at my attempt for American slang.

"Can't. It would be against policy. If I were to get hurt and I'm not on staff, who would pay my worker's compensation?" She asked.

"Get hurt?" I scoffed. "From washing dishes?"

A mischievous smile overcame Bella's face and she walked a little closer to my sink.

"Let's just say…I may have witnessed a certain person who shall remain nameless, falling into a pile of trash food."

My mouth dropped as I thought back to that day.

"How did you…" I started to say.

Bella shrugged. "I may have come back looking for you…I felt like a bitch for how I acted but when I saw you…I quickly retreated because I kind of got the impression that you were angry, and I thought it might have something to do with me."

"It had everything to do with you! You deserved to be the one slipping on soap and falling into revolting uneaten food," I said and then I took my hand and splashed her with a wave of soapy water. It seemed to get her dress and face pretty good as she stared at me in shock.

"YOU ASSHOLE!" She screamed.

"Payback," I laughed.

Bella who was never one to not retaliate, pushed a pile of plates that had been drying back into the soapy water. The splash hitting me like a tidal wave.

I stood there with soaked pants and turned on her.

"You are so going to pay for that." I reached out and grabbed her with ease and picked her up while she was screaming and was about to put her in the sink too.

"I'm sorry!" She screamed over and over. Feeling merciful, I decided to slowly place her feet back down on the floor and she breathed a sigh of relief.

"Now, we are definitely going to miss the movie," I said looking back at the plates that I would once again need to rewash.

Bella sighed, "I guess I can help you out."

She pulled on gloves and we shared the sink space spending our evening talking. I couldn't help but stop and stare at her every once in a while. She was so beautiful.

"Hey, pick up the pace." She ordered.

"I can't help it. If you are one thing…I would say you are a huge distraction," I replied.

She stopped what she was doing and looked over at me with a soft smile and I could see something in her eyes that I had never witnessed before.

"Ditto," She replied.

I spent most of my days at Bella's dormitory. It was so convenient to be close to my classes and cafeteria work, I could see why so many students partook in the tradition. Also, with Alice spending more and more time at my condo, it gave Bella and I our much-needed privacy.

Every single day I was able to live out my fantasy of what I had envisioned for my life. Bella was the perfect partner. We shared the best conversations. She was intelligent and even though we could have some pretty heated debates, our sparring matches was something that I lived for. I loved someone being able to speak to me as if I were normal and push me. Give me the truth without finding respectful wording or agreeing with me just because of my title. I struggled because I wondered how I would ever find someone like her again.

Bella began to giggle.

"I think you were supposed to be studying."

I rolled myself to lay by her side and smiled.

"Believe me, I am."

Bella shook her head and rolled her eyes. She ran her hand through my hair and I was prepared to pick up from where I left off. Bella pushed me softly and sighed.

"Come on Edward, we have finals next week. And contrary to what you have witnessed in the past…I'm not that easy."

That made me upset. Bella and I had made another unspoken agreement of sorts. We never went farther than a heavy kissing session. Our clothes always remained on and we both knew when to stop our activities. As much as I wanted to make love to her, it wasn't something that I wanted to do knowing that leaving would make it all the worse for both of us.

"I never thought you were. One inebriated mistake does not make you easy. I'm sorry if you believed that I think so little of you…"

"No, I know you don't. However, I can't help think less of me."

I didn't want to talk about that prat James. A few weeks back, we nearly had a run in with James and his fraternal order. When I realized why Bella was acting off one day, I asked her about it and after some push, she finally gave in that James had been antagonizing her. It nearly caused me to fight him right in the cafeteria, but Bella pulled me back and called Emmett to keep me away until James and his friends left.

"If I were you, I would forget it ever happened. Chalk it up to a college experience and move on from there," I suggested.

"And is that what I am supposed to do with you? After you've gone just call you some "Summer love" and move on from there. Another college experience?" She chided.

My heart twisted thinking of Bella after I had left for home. I didn't want my mind to wander down the path of her future. I didn't know what I would do if I suddenly pictured Bella beside some other man. Having children with that other man and getting old with that man.

"I should get back to studying. You're right. We have finals."

I climbed off her bed and went to sit down on her desk chair. I imagined that Bella returned to reading but I was too much of a coward to look at her face. I was afraid I would see hurt etched upon it. I didn't like being short with her but sometimes I thought it was for the best.

A few hours later I finally worked up the nerve to speak with her.

"Do you want to go and get dinner?" I asked.

"Why don't you go along. I think I am going to turn in. I'm not feeling too well," She replied.

I looked her over and could see that something had changed.

"I could go and pick up something. Do you want soup or a sandwich?"

"No. You better just take off. I'll see you tomorrow."

She turned over in her bed and faced the wall. Okay, now I knew I did something wrong. I put my book down and went over to the bed and climbed in behind her. She attempted to shrug me off, but I wouldn't budge.

"I'm sorry," I apologized.

"You have nothing to be sorry for. I'm the one who isn't feeling well. You probably should go before you catch it. I don't want to be the cause of you doing poorly on finals."

"I don't give a fuck about finals," I stated.

I nuzzled her neck and began to kiss her tenderly making my way around her exposed skin. Once again, she tried to shrug me off.

"Edward. Would you just pick a lane and stay in it?" She snapped.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

Bella finally turned over to look at me.

"You're so hot and cold. One minute you want to make out and the next, you don't speak to me for hours. I'm sorry if I'm not as adept at this ping pong game you want to play."

I pulled back from her, surprised at her attitude and got down from the bed once more.

"I am just doing what we both agreed to but my apologies if I have a hard time…staying in a lane," I snapped.

"What exactly did we agree to? I'm not even sure," She asked getting up from the bed as well. "Be together until D-day and then go on with our lives. You over in…Caldonia running your father's silly empire and me here…"

"Yes, you here! I asked you if you wanted to go to Caldonia and you said NO!" I yelled. "What the hell do you want from me? I wish I had the freedom of sitting around reading books all day for my future but it's a little more complicated than just running a silly empire."

Bella stood there looking at me with her eyes swimming, but I wasn't going to let her tears get the better of me. So, I stood firm waiting for her answer.

"Next week is finals...I think this is final too," She replied softly.

She grabbed her key from her desk and retreated. We had managed to go over six weeks without an heated argument or fight and now it was over. Everything was over. I sighed and gathered my things.

I made sure to lock the door behind me as I went and nearly made it out the hallway when one of Bella's neighbors approached me.

"Oh good Edward, you're here. I think Bella needs some help in the bathroom. She seems to be throwing up quite a bit. I was coming to get Alice…"

"You should call Alice. Bella and I…" I shook my head and didn't even finish with the girl. I left.

I went straight home and wanted to go straight to my bed and forget finals. Forget duty and obligations. Forget Bella. There was no way I would be able to forget Bella unless heavy drug use was involved.

Instead I laid in bed replaying the evening over and over. It made me so upset that she would trivialize my role that I was to assume when I returned home. I was upset but then I thought about it and slowly began to see things from her perspective. She thought I was merely going home to run a company. She had no clue that the position that I would be preparing for would have nearly a hundred thousand people to govern. It wasn't fair for me to be upset with her. If I had been in her shoes, I was sure I would have made the same conclusions and called her destiny silly as well.

But wasn't that exactly what I did? Call her dreams of being a librarian silly? I told her that I didn't have the luxury of sitting around and reading books. I trivialized her dreams. I made the woman I loved feel silly about the path she chose. Maybe she was right to want to end this now. I didn't deserve even one more kiss let alone anything else we might have done.

But, if I did what she wanted and ended it, it might make things easier for both of us. If I wanted, I would only have to see her one more time. Our final on Thursday and then we would be officially out of each other's lives forever. My flight was scheduled to leave on out of here on Sunday.

From the other room comes high pitched squeals. It was Alice once again being loud. I prayed that she wasn't doing what I thought with Jasper in our television room. I wouldn't be able to stomach it and I might do something lethal. I grabbed my door knob and went to see what the ruckus was.

Alice was tearing open a large box while Jasper stood smiling at her. I already wanted to punch them both in the face.

"What the hell is going on?" I asked irritated.

"My daddy just sent me this going away present. Isn't he just the best. He bought me the Louis Vuitton trunk I've been dying for," Alice gushed.

I crinkled my forehead. What was she talking about?

"What do you mean, going away?" I asked.

Jasper looked over at me almost afraid of saying the next words out of his mouth. He didn't even need to say them as it begun to dawn on me.

"Alice has agreed to come to Caldonia…but just for the winter break. Come February, I…am planning to come back here until Alice finishes school and then we don't know."

Alice saw the look on my face and instantly ceased any personal pleasures she was feeling. She began to bite her lip to keep her from saying anything in that moment.

"Good for you," I replied and then turned around ready to leave them but before I completely exited I said, "By the way, Bella and I broke up. You might want to check on her."

I was sure that these grades I would receive would be the worst grades a perspective King of Caldonia would ever earn. It had been almost a week since I had seen Bella. Since Jasper's announcement, I did whatever I could to not be in the happy couple's vicinity. You would think that with all the time I spent in my room, I would be coming out of finals completely confident. However, I spent most of the time in my room sleeping. When I slept, I would dream. Great big beautiful Bella dreams.

It was finally the day I was dreading and yet feeling hopeful as well. My Literature final was the last one on my agenda. Thursday was here and so it would be the last time I would ever see Bella. How I was expected to concentrate during my test, I'll never know.

I waited at my old desk for her to arrive. The students entered with their final essays in their hands and then the professor entered and started to give the instructions. But no Bella. My heart began to speed up as the professor walked up and down the aisles with the test booklets, handing them out as she went.

But while my classmates all began their tests, I sat there in complete and utter shock. Bella would never miss a final. There had to be something wrong. Alice would have told me if something happened to Bella, right? I kept waiting for her to rush through the door all disheveled, but the minutes ticked by and she was a no-show. I looked down at my test booklet and closed it. I walked to the front and handed the professor my final essay and empty test booklet.

I had been prepared to be a little distracted in that final test but to not even complete a final, there was no way I would be getting out of that class with a decent grade. I pulled out my phone and attempted to call Bella, but it went straight to voice mail. I nearly ran the whole way to her dormitory. I didn't know what I would say exactly, the only thing that ran through my mind was to shake some sense into her.

I banged on the door and was surprised when Alice answered. It was rare for me to see Alice in her dormitory room. I instantly noticed that all of Bella's things were gone and Alice was packing up her remaining items.

"Where is she?" I gasped. My jog had taken more out of me than I was aware of.

"Uh…" Alice looked around like she was stalling.

"Bella missed the final!" I had hoped that my words would knock some sense into Alice.

She took a long breath in and sighed, "I thought she might."

"What the hell is going on, Alice! You act like this is okay. You and I both know how not okay this is."

"Edward, calm down," Alice replied quietly.

"Calm down?" I was about to go off on her once more, but she held up her hands stopping me from speaking. Alice went to start a couple of times but failed.

"Edward. I think its best if you focus on going home. You and Bella are over. Just leave her be," Alice said calmly.

I shook my head in disbelief.

"No. I'm not leaving it like this. Where is she?" I demanded.

"Go home, Edward. You can't help her anymore. Just let her live her life and you go do the same," She said.

"Stop telling me that. Tell me where she is! I am not leaving here until you do and I swear in all that is holy, I will do everything in my power to see that you don't enter Caldonia until you do so," I threatened.

Alice narrowed her eyes at me and suddenly she looked threatening.

"Really? Is that the kind of king you plan on being?"

I shouldn't have been surprised but I was. I took a step back and stood straighter.

"Jasper told you," I stated.

"No! Jasper didn't have to tell me anything. So, don't go taking this out on him. It seems that is your specialty these days," She spit. "I've known for a while and it wasn't because of Jasper. I wasn't sure when I first met you. I convinced myself that you were a look a-like until Jasper told me that he lived in Caldonia and then I knew. I know nearly all the royal families of the world. Hello! I'm like majorly into fashion and celebrity gossip. You don't think I wouldn't be able to recognize one of the most eligible bachelors in the world?"

"And you didn't tell Bella?" I asked feeling the wind completely being knocked out of me.

"No, I kind of thought that it was something that you should do," She replied sarcastically.

"I just…wanted to feel normal," I sighed and continued, "It just kept getting harder and harder to tell her the truth. I asked her to go to Caldonia multiple times and multiple times she turned me down. I thought it would be best if she never knew."

"You're an idiot!" Alice huffed. "What did you think would happen when Bella found out? That she was the kind of girl who would hold her hand out ready for her crown? Bella is better than that. She is better than me and she is most certainly better than you."

"I know that! I just didn't want it ruining our relationship."

"Yeah, I could see how the truth would ruin a relationship," Alice replied.

I stood their staring at Bella's empty side of the room and rethinking the happiest moments I spent in that room.

"Alice. I have to see her. Please tell me where she is," I begged.

Alice looked back to a pile of boxes. It was then I noticed they were labeled with Bella's name.

"She went to her father's house. She plans on selling it and wanted to go and see it one last time. She left an hour ago but she's taking a bus and Uber. Edward, its four hours away and that's if you don't get lost."

"Then it's a good thing that I have a phone with GPS and that you'll let me borrow your car," I said.

Alice's eyes became wide and she started shaking her head, "I can't. If you crash it, my father will crash me!"

"If I crash it, I'll buy you a new one. Benefits to being a prince."

"Jasper said you were cut off."

I rolled my eyes, "Fine, my father will buy you a new one. Something red and sporty?"

Alice mulled it over before handing me the keys, "I don't wish you harm…but I wouldn't mind something red and sporty."

I laughed and grabbed the keys.

If I were living in a day where I had to rely on a paper map, this story might have a different ending. Having to take a couple ferries and nearly five hours of driving since there were hardly any decent speed limits, I didn't think I would ever get there. As my phone began to tell me that I had only a mile left, I became worried as to what I would say to Bella. Nothing had changed of our situation, but I needed to know she was all right.

Snow began to fall lightly as I turned down the street. I didn't need my phone the rest of the way, I could see her small form standing outside her father's house. I pulled up and parked across the street. She was so lost in her own thoughts that she didn't even turn to look in my direction. It wasn't until I was standing in her eyeline that she looked at me surprised.

"Edward, what are you doing here?" She asked.

"You couldn't have thought that we had a proper good-bye," I replied.

She turned away from me and went back to staring at the house. The Bella I knew didn't seem to be here. This Bella looked like a shell; unmoving and hardened. It was if the air was so cold it froze her in place. The look on her face vacant and without love.

"Alice said you were selling your father's house," I said quietly.

"I need the money," She replied unforgivingly.

"Bella…."

"Edward, you should go. There was a reason we ended the way we did. I wasn't strong enough for the fare-thee-well at the end of a tarmac. I need to put you in my past."

"No! I can't go. Not now but most importantly, not like this," I paused and took another breath. This was it. This was the moment I needed to fight. Fight and make her see reason.

"Bella, come to Caldonia with me."

I heard her mutter out a laugh and then I see her vacant expression turn painful and hopeless.

"You want to finish school? We have schools. You want to be a librarian? My family has the money to build you your own library. Come to Caldonia. Be with me. Love me and I promise, I will never let you go a day without knowing how much I love you."

It was the first time I had ever said it out loud. I had alluded to it many times but never actually said that I loved her to her face.

She didn't respond. She just kept staring at the house.

"If you don't…then I will call my father and tell him I'm not coming home."

I meant every word. It was the first time that I truly meant that I would give up everything destiny had planned out for me. Because there was no life for me if it didn't include Bella. I had hoped my declaration had stirred up more of a reaction but once again she just stared at that house. I couldn't take any more silence from her, so I pushed my way in front of her and forced her to look me in the eye.

"Bella!"

I was starting to get upset. I just told her that I loved her. I told her I was willing to give up everything for her. My family. My future and she couldn't even give me a glimmer of hope.

"Bella!" I said once more.

She finally looked me in the eye and said, "Edward, I'm pregnant."

AN: THANK YOU FOR TAKING THE TIME TO READ AND REVIEW! I LOVE READING EVERYTHING YOU HAVE TO SAY. SEE YOU ON THURSDAY.

DISCLAIMER: STORY IS MINE. CHARACTERS BELONG TO STEPHENIE MEYER.